More Rural ATMs

Pioneer is hiring agronomists such as Jacob Vossenkemper to trial products on a local level.

This story has everything to do with increasing crop yields and nothing to do with automated teller machines. ATM is the acronym that Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, uses to describe its new network of agronomy trial managers.

The program focuses on evaluating production practices and Pioneer genetics on a local basis, explains Jacob Vossenkemper, an ATM based in Tuscola, Ill. "It’s part of our ‘right product, right acre’ strategy."

There are currently 20 ATMs nationwide and Pioneer plans to more than double that number. The ATM system, an expansion of the company’s existing agronomic team, links to a locally directed effort called IMPACT (Intensively Managed Product Advancement, Characterization and Training).

IMPACT trials are grown in local producer fields and provide data to support product commercialization.

"The whole idea is to test the products in the region where they will be grown," says Vossenkemper, who was raised on a Missouri farm and received his graduate degree in agronomy at Oklahoma State University.

"We help growers see how a particular product performs on their farm under a variety of management practices," he adds. For more agronomy information, visit www.pioneer.com/agronomy.